Geishas for Enlightened Motherhood
In the Meiji period, geisha embraced the nation’s modernizing project, helping to improve education for women and promoting a western-style domestic ideal.
Biobanking the Victims of Nuclear War
Nearly 2 million biological samples from people affected by radiation from World War II nuclear bombings are stored in facilities in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Arakawa and Gins: An Eternal Architecture
With the Reversible Destiny Foundation, architect-philosophers Arakawa and Gins created disquieting designs meant to defeat mortality.
A Bodhisattva for Japanese Women
Originally known in China as Dizāng, the “savior of the damned,” Jizō has evolved into a protector of children and comforter of women in Japan.
Under Hokusai’s Great Wave
Hokusai’s watery woodblock print is such a common sight that most people tend to look past the peril at its center.
The Ban on Japanese Aircraft Pilots, 1945–1952
The defeated Japanese weren’t allowed to pilot, own, build, or even research airplanes during the post-World War II occupation by the United States.
Country Roads and City Scenes in Japanese Woodblock Prints
Explore two centuries of printmaking—from Hokusai and Hiroshige through Hiratsuka—in this online collection shared by Boston College.
Christmastime in 1960s Japan
In the years following World War II, the Japanese people looked to Santa Claus as a symbol of not just kindness and beneficence, but of modernity.
Onna-Bugeisha, the Female Samurai Warriors of Feudal Japan
In 1868 a group of female samurai took part in the fierce Battle of Aizu for the very soul of Japan.
Tearing Down Nakagin Capsule Tower
Japanese Metabolists argued that architecture should be adaptable, changing as a city changed. Why, then, is this icon of Metabolism being dismantled?